ASTRO-110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: San Andreas Fault, Plate Tectonics, North American Plate
18 Sep 2020
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The brief introduction to chapter 6 presents the problem in a useful way - how would the. These and other aspects of our planet are explored in the subsequent sections. It is now a firmly established fact that the surface of the earth is not static, but is a constantly shifting and evolving surface. It is, in fact, a gigantic heat-engine that drives the shifting plates carrying the continents. The source of the heat energy is in the interior of the earth and it manifests itself in driving the motion of the plates at velocities of a few centimeters per year and the production of earthquakes and volcanoes. All of this activity is collectively called "tectonic activity". It will be of interest (and greatly aid our understanding) to observe the extent to which other planets exhibit tectonic activity. Figure 6-10 convection and the mechanism of plate tectonics.
